Sweeter Dreams
by SOAA
Summary: [oneshot] Kirihara makes a visit to see a certain someone at the hospital and receives comfort in a way he never would have expected.


**Title:** Sweeter Dreams oneshot  
**Series:** Prince of Tennis  
**Characters:** Kirihara Akaya, Yukimura Seiichi  
**Genre:** General  
**Rating:** G/K

**Author's Notes:** This fic was originally written for the potchallenge community at LiveJournal. The theme was 'dreams'.

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**Sweeter Dreams**

The raven-haired junior ace of Rikkaidai sighed quietly to himself as he walked down the corridor of the hospital. The sterile appearance of everything unnerved him and his feet – normally quick and efficient in getting him to where he was going, whether on a court or anywhere else – felt like lead weights. Each step he took brought him one step closer to Yukimura's hospital room and each step increased his anxiety twofold and made him want to turn around and beat a hasty retreat out of the hospital.

But Kirihara Akaya never ran. Oh no. Everyone ran from _him_, not the other way around.

It was this thought that kept him going, despite the fact that his heart was about to leap out of his throat and despite the fact he was gripping his bouquet of flowers so hard that a thorn had pierced the wrapping and had consequently pierced his skin.

No, Kirihara Akaya never ran, but Kirihara Akaya did get scared. Sometimes. And this was one of those times.

"What am I scared of?" He scoffed in answer to his own insecurities as he stopped in front of the door marked with Yukimura's name. His body shook with anxiety as he opened the door and stepped inside.

The room was surprisingly dark for someone who liked gardening as much as Yukimura did and for an instant, he thought that maybe Yukimura was asleep and that he shouldn't be bothering him. But strangely, he felt compelled to stay – as if leaving would mean he had lost some sort of fight. In all actuality, it had been a fight with himself to make this visit and since he had won, he wanted to savor that small victory.

No, Kirihara Akaya never ran, and given the opportunity to run, would never run – even when scared.

He procrastinated a bit, puttering around and filling an empty vase with his flowers, and then finally decided that he couldn't procrastinate any longer. Fighting down a sudden wave of nausea, he approached the bedside of his fallen captain and forced himself to look upon the face that meant so much to him.

He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but his imagination had somehow tricked him over the past few days into believing that his captain's face would look completely monstrous – reflecting the disease that was consuming him from the inside out. So when he saw the same delicately boned face he had seen during the months before Yukimura had taken ill, it was quite a shock.

The face was serene and the eyes were closed in silent repose as the lips were curved into the barest hint of a smile. Aside from the paleness of the other boy's skin, he looked exactly the same. Beautiful. Graceful. And even in silence, powerful. Powerful enough to chase away the red-eyed demon that had been challenging him, antagonizing him, plaguing his dreams, and threatening to break free at every possible opportunity. Powerful enough to be called…

"Bu… buchou." The word was soft, barely audible even to him, and his knees gave way under him and he collapsed into the chair next to the bed. His hand went to his mouth as a strangled sob tore from his throat. Yukimura was okay. Yukimura didn't look like a monster. Yukimura wasn't a monster. Yukimura would come back to them someday.

He rested his head on the edge of Yukimura's bed as his fingers clenched the sheets. Things would be okay. Yukimura would be okay and he was safe now. The monster couldn't hurt him anymore. Closing his eyes, he let the tears fall as shuddering sobs racked his slim frame.

"The monster can't hurt me anymore…" The words slipped past his lips amidst the tears. Both cleansing and exhausting, the tears spent whatever energy Kirihara had and the second year ace fell into a peaceful slumber.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the young man in the hospital bed had been awake and he stirred a bit, turning his face to look upon the boy he had taken under his wing. Silver streaks silently trailed down his face and he whispered into the other's ear. "Sweeter dreams, Akaya."

_- fine_


End file.
